Marc Valentine “Basement Sparks”

I guess many of us have one of those bands that we are convinced should be huge but inexplicably have not been picked up by the masses. The Last Great Dreamers are a band that from their debut album, many years ago, we are convinced should have been adored by everyone. Thankfully, their vocalist Marc Valentine hasn’t got stuck on worrying about ‘what could have been’ and has continued to make fantastic music both with the band and more recently as a solo artist.

We love an album that opens up in style and that’s the case with the super power pop tune “Complicated Sometimes”, it’s an immediate sign that Marc is bang on form. Any doubts that the quality will be maintained is soon a distant memory when you hear “Tyrannical Wrecks” which is even better! Indeed, as you continue to listen to the tracks that follow it just seems to be a constant line of sublime power pop rockers. Even with our love of The Last Great Dreamers, songs like “Skeleton Key” and “Eve of Destruction” must rank up there with the best that Marc has ever written…no mean feat. Sure, for some they might be a bit buoyant and poppy but those people can stick to being miserable listening to Radiohead et al! For us, we like a bit of joy in our life and that need is met by the pure pop rock of songs like “You Are One Of Us Now”.

There’s still room for a bit of variety on the album, “I Wanna Be Alone” keeps the melody but adds a smidge of punk (think a pop Michael Monroe). There’s also room for a classic ballad in the shape of “3am Anderson Drive” which will get the lighters in the air. “Repeat Offender” is primarily a pop rock song but also flirts with more of a ska beat at times. But let’s be honest, Marc mainly sticks with what he knows – delivering melodic modern rock songs like “Straight Weather” and “Opening Chase Theme”. These are songs that seem designed to brighten up your life and bringing some fun back into rock n roll. We must also give a little nod to final track “Ballad of Watt” which is a classic power ballad type song which back in the day would have had a black and white story/tour video and have been all over MTV!

There’s so much to love about this album and there is no doubt it will be lapped up by fans of both The Last Great Dreamers and Marc Valentine. We still live in the hope it will lead to an ever increasing fan base. If you have any interest in power pop and modern pop rock music then this is an essential buy.